Friday, September 06, 2013

#167. or, Cover that in plastic, and put it in the fridge.

  We've finished making silage for this year. That means, I can cross that job off my list of things that need to get done before it snows, and can now focus my full attention on some of the other items.

  All 10 000 of them.

  Winter is coming! (Why can't I say that any more, unless it's in a British accent? Maybe it's something I've seen on TV? Who knows?) Anyways, it would be ridiculous to think that I'm going to get all of those items crossed off before winter, but certain ones seem to work their way to the top. Feeding the world seems to always be pretty high on that list. It turn, making sure our cows get fed is a priority.

  Our cows have two different items on their menu, hay bales and silage. Hay bales are pretty much exactly what they sound like. Cut the hay, dry it, roll it into 1300 pound bales and store it until it's time to feed it the cows. This process happens over about a week, so feasibly, it could be done by one person. Silage on the other hand is much more labour intensive, and requires quite a bit more man-power and equipment.

  So why do we make silage? Cause my Daddy always said, "It's hard to make good hay, but it's harder to make poor silage."  The thing about bales is you need the weather to be on your side. Which wasn't really the case here over the summer. The more rain you get on your hay between cutting it, and it dries enough to bale, the poorer the quality will be. Bale it before it's dry, it will spoil in the bale and turn into manure. Try to store good bales too long, they lose their feed value. So while they can be made easier than silage, it's safer not to put all of your eggs in that basket.

  When we make silage we cut the hay, same as with baling, but before it dries, we come along with the silage chopper, which chops all the hay into pieces about an inch long or less, and blows all of that product into a wagon we pull behind the chopper. Get it, tractor, chopper, wagon. Three units, plus the tractor and hay cutter that have gone before. When the wagon is full, we dump that into one of two trucks that are running trips back to the yard and dumping the chopped silage into a giant pile on the ground, with dirt banks on each side. It's then pushed up by yet another tractor, and packed as much as it can be to squeeze as much of the air out if it as possible. So, 8 different pieces of equipment, and 5 different people to run all of that. A little more than baling.

If only there was some way show you what I'm talking about?


  Bored to tears yet? Ya, I thought you might be.

  The final step in the procedure it to cover the whole  pit full of silage, about 1300 tons, with poly, so it doesn't spoil. If the poly remains intact, it can keep in good condition for up to 7 years.

  It's sort of like covering that plate of left-overs with plastic wrap and putting it in the fridge to save for a later date. maybe, say.....7 years from now?  Except, my plastic wrap is 350 feet long and 50 feet wide.

  Surprisingly, now that I think about it, I find it quite a bit easier to deal with plastic wrap on that scale, than I do with covering my left-overs. That stuff always ends up in a wad that sticks to everything except where I want it to be. It's only slightly less irritating than trying to match a lid to one the 500 plastic containers we have in the drawer, none of which are quite the same shape, and requires it's own specific lid. I usually end up with my food in a plastic container, covered with a ragged chunk of plastic wrap, held in place with a rubber band.

  I've heard, from one of my neighbours, that there's a way to extract the alcohol from silage, and come up with a drinkable product. It seems possible, as a pit of silage can ooze syrupy liquid all through the winter, and will only freeze when it gets around minus 30 degrees Celsius. While interesting, I've never been desperate enough to get down on my hands and knees and try to suck up a little silage juice. Or maybe whip up a thick brown cocktail to enjoy in the evening. There's no amount of tiny colourful umbrellas that will make that shit appealing.

  ..........however, maybe that's why my cows like it so much? I've never actually seen them hugging on each other and try to sing though. I may have to pay more attention.

36 comments:

  1. As cold as your winters are I think there would be nothing better for a cow then eating a whole bunch of slightly alcoholic salad. It's nutritious and it warms you up from the inside! Heck, add a little whiskey to there water buckets and I bet winter would be there new favorite season.

    Until they all died from alcohol poisoning that is.

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    1. Hi Holly,

      Marinated from the inside out, you might be on to something? :)

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  2. Not bored to tears at all! This was great! You answered everything I wondered and more after your last post. I can't believe it can last for 7 years! Do you write on the plastic in magic marker when it was made, like we do with leftovers? Or do you just carefully lift the plastic and sniff to see if it's still good?

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    1. Hey Kianwi!

      This post sort of happened, because you reminded me that not everybody knows what the heck I'm talking about and sometimes I should try to explain a little better what I do.

      We have the 2 pits you see in the picture. The one on the right is from last year, the one we just filled, will be used next year. That way, if there's some sort of weather disaster and we can't make any feed, our cows will still have something to eat.

      And also, with silage, you probably don't want to lift the corner of the poly and take a big whiff. It can get a little stinky. :)

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  3. Well, now that I know what silage is, guess I can buy some land and some cattle and start farming! What? You mean it's not that easy? Dafuq?

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    1. Hi Debra,

      I'm thinking you need to come out and get some practice first. I can guarantee, plenty of long hours, with mediocre pay. It's the best way to learn......trust me. ;)

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  4. This actually was interesting, Ken. And funny!

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    1. Thanks, McGuffy Ann, I appreciate that. I always think these are the posts that are going to be like reading a vacuum cleaner manual. I do my best to try to be interesting :)

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  5. Such an education you're providing us city slickers. I'm usually game when it comes to drinking but I think I'll pass on silage juice.

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    1. Hi Stephen,

      Probably a wise move on your part. I know there has to be some alcohol in that juice to keep it from freezing. But I don't even know what to compare it to. It's brown and stinks to high heaven. Yummy!

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  6. Well, I'm a city girl, know diddly squat about farming until now. You explained cow feed clearly and made it entertaining. Like your writing. First time visitor. I'll be back.

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    1. Hi LaTonya, thanks for stopping by.

      I'm glad that it made sense to someone who knows diddly squat on the topic. That's what I was hoping I could do. :)

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  7. I love your explanation. And now I know what silage is, and why cows are so happy to eat it.

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  8. I've heard the term silage but didn't know what it was. Really interesting. I think I'm going to start referring to leftovers as silage.

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    1. Perhaps the leftover vegetables. I think the meats would be something entirely different. :)

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  9. Winter's coming, KHALEESI!

    Lol. I have friends who are farmers, so I kind of know what you're doing.. Kind of. Always interesting to learn new things. Can't promise I'll remember it though :P.

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    1. Hey Annika!

      Winter IS indeed coming! :)

      Maybe I'll teach you some farming terminology so you can impress them with your farmy prowess? :)

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  10. Silage juice...you could give moonshiners a run for their money! And I had to giggle at the thought of drunk cows. They'd put those California Cows to shame with they're 'happy cow' crap. ;)

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    1. Hi Terrye,

      I would like to think that, if a cow were to actually get drunk, it would be a happy drunk. :)

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  11. Now I have a mental image of a Ken in a tractor / Ned Stark hybrid saying, "Winter is coming" and a slightly alcoholic, jittery cow going, "It well better be or you BETTER brace yourself."

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    1. Maybe I had better try to grow my hair out and start packing around a giant sword? Or perhaps, at the very least, a pitch fork?

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  12. Far from bored, man: it's pretty fascinating to hear about stuff like that from someone actually living it. I didn't even know exactly what silage was, not to mention the process involved in preparing it.

    And keep me posted once you perfect your signature drunk - "silage vodka tonics"!

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    1. I often think, that because I do this every day and often, I don't think it's all that exciting, it won't translate into interesting posts. I'm always surprised when it does.

      I'm not going to stake my retirement on the success of that as my signature drink. But who knows, it might catch on?

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  13. Dear friend,

    What a host of information I learned here!! And you capped it all of with my imagining a group of cows clumped together, hooves around each other's shoulders singing a rowdy and rousing rendition of 'Bennie and the Jets' by Elton John.

    I'm guessing since it stinks, you haven't tried a tiny taste of the stuff coming from the silage? Worth a try in the event of a complete shutdown of all commerce and you can't get a good cocktail anywhere! :)

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    1. Hello, my friend!

      I always thought that cows might be more into country and western, but who knows, maybe a little Elton John is what's needed to liven up the place a little bit?

      In the event of a complete economic collapse, I have a sweet little recipe for making wine out of fruits and berries. Much more preferable than tall glass of stinky brown sludge! :)

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  14. Ken, these snapshots of your life give me a small glimpse of how hard you work. I have a lot of respect for you.

    Cheers to you (and the bovines)!

    Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen, that means a lot to me. :)

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  15. Hi Ken!
    Yep, yep - as an Ohioan, this is all familiar to me. Driving down the road yesterday with the windows down, I could smell fall coming because I smelled . . . corn. Easy to understand, as I was surrounded by thousands of acres of it.
    Thanks for feeding the world. Seriously. :)

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    1. Hi Dawn,

      One of my favourite things, which I didn't really realize was one of my favourite things until recently, is the way the evening looks when the air is full of grain dust.

      We're a bit too far north to have feed corn mature all the way to combining, but there's getting to be more and more fields sneaking up here for silage.

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  16. Ken, featured you today here:
    http://blackandgraylifemusings.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-writers-writer-joy-of-writing.html

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    1. Thank you LaTonya!

      How wonderful is that!? You've surprised me. Thank you! :)

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  17. Funny and educational! I've been gone too long. Originally from corn country, I know something about farms, but never about feeding cows, so it filled a hole in my learning.

    ...and I agree about plastic wrap. I'll use tin-foil if at all possible. It behaves better.

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    1. Hi Red!

      So nice to see you around. I know you had a post recently, but honestly, I've been too busy to even write anything on my own, or read anything. I need to try to find some more time for that.

      I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Red. Plastic wrap is infuriating to me, unless it's in a gigantic roll. :)

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  18. Wandered over here from LaTonya's site. Nice to read you, Ken. Good read - informative and funny. Cheers ~ M

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    1. Thanks, nice to see you here as well.

      Also thanks for the follow, I'll be visiting your site shortly.

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